For my imaginary cousin, William Wallace Wishum, a.k.a. Willie Wally Wishum, the only hope for greatness would be if IQ scores were like golf. If the lowest wins, Willie would. That makes it difficult for him to find a job.
He recently heard about an opening and went to apply. After struggling to fill out the application, Willie waited anxiously for the outcome. The employer, after looking over the application, announced, "We have an opening for people like you; It's called the door!"
How many times have you been shown the door? Too many?
Maybe all your life you’ve felt outside the circle – like you didn’t fit, that you aren’t good enough to hang with the golden people. Perhaps you were shown the door from the job or career that was your dream. You may have been shown the door by someone who promised to love you “till death.” Or, your own children may have caused you to feel like a complete failure.
Whatever the source, we often feel rejected – like we’ve been shown the door and
told to get out. Fortunately, our Father wants to show us a different door. His name is Jesus.
In John 10, Jesus compares people to sheep in a pen. Not particularly flattering, but familiar to his audience. In that pen, “I am the gate,” Jesus explains. “Whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture” (verse 9).
Find pasture. For a sheep, that’s green grass and cool water. It’s life and health. For a person, pasture is love and forgiveness and acceptance and being good enough and life that lasts forever. And Jesus says, “I am the way” (John 14:6) to all that.
The world often rejects us. Through Jesus, however, God “chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Ephesians 1:4).
The world tells us we aren’t worth caring about. Through Jesus, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
The world tells us repeatedly that we aren’t good enough – that we don’t deserve anything good. God tells us that through Jesus he “has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light” (Colossians 1:12).
Amazing news! God has an opening for you in his family.